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Event DescriptionThe Judaic Studies Program and the Department of English and Philosophy present a lecture by Shalom E. Holtz, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Bible, Yeshiva University, called, “Seeing God as Refuge in the Psalms.”

“The Lord is my life's refuge, of whom shall I be afraid?” proclaims one Psalmist (27:1). To a biblical Israelite, what did this idea of God as refuge mean? Some have suggested that its roots lie in the reality of Israelite temples. We will explore this connection between God as refuge and the temple as refuge in light of evidence from the Hebrew Bible and artifacts from the ancient Near East.

Shalom E. Holtz is associate professor of Bible at Yeshiva University, where he has taught since 2006. He is the author of Neo-Babylonian Court Procedure (Cuneiform Monographs 38; Leiden: Brill, 2009) and Neo-Babylonian Trial Records (Society of Biblical Literature, Forthcoming). Based on his research on cuneiform law, he has written comparative studies of courtroom terminology and imagery in the Hebrew Bible in light of Akkadian legal documents. Currently, he is working on a monograph-length study of prayer as courtroom speech in the ancient Near Eastern and later Hebrew traditions.

Free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. Support for this event comes from the Louis and Bessie Stein Foundation, The Milton and Miriam Handler Foundation, and the Friends of Judaic Studies. For information: Kathy.carll@drexel.edu, 215-895-6388.